Former Gov. Linda Lingle is expected to announce as soon as Tuesday that she will run in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, sources say.

Lingle is scheduled to speak at a noon luncheon of the Sales and Marketing Executives International at the Pacific Club. The topic is how decisions made in Washington, D.C., can affect local businesses and the community.

U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and former U.S. Rep. Ed Case are the Democratic contenders to replace U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, who is not seeking another term next year.

I honestly don't think that she'd make this any more competitive than any of the other Republicans out there. Anyone who thinks Lingle would win this under normal circumstances is probably thinking about first term Lingle who had approval ratings in the upper 70's, not second term Lingle who left office with approvals in the low 40's.

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Not really sure why she's bothering. I mean, kudos to her for providing something arguably more substantial than token opposition, but there's still no realistic chance of her winning. If I was Lingle I'd just go into lobbying or whatever it is ex-politicians do with their time.

Not really sure why she's bothering. I mean, kudos to her for providing something arguably more substantial than token opposition, but there's still no realistic chance of her winning. If I was Lingle I'd just go into lobbying or whatever it is ex-politicians do with their time.

Perhaps they offered her something behind closed doors in exchange for running. Or maybe she is just being a good soldier and taking one for the team. I would agree that Lingle has a snowball in Hawaii chance of winning.

For the GOP this is a positive development, even though a loss is a virtual certainty. As a former governor, Lingle will be able to fundraise fine on her own. And symbolically, the Hawaii GOP is not embarrassing itself by putting up a non-entity U.S. Senate candidate. Which is more than the WA GOP can say, lol.

Hey, at least she'll make the Dems spend more (maybe not much but still something) than they planned.

Its more likely she'll make her party waste money there. The DSCC would be very dumb to pour money into a race which they have a 99.9% chance of winning.

Uh, the NRSC has a ton of real pickup opportunities. They aren't going to waste money in Hawaii.

You mean the same NRSC that spent millions of dollars attacking the only viable candidate in California last year for supposedly being insufficiently pro-Israel, then dumped millions of dollars better spent elsewhere into California attempting to prove themselves right?

Hey, at least she'll make the Dems spend more (maybe not much but still something) than they planned.

Its more likely she'll make her party waste money there. The DSCC would be very dumb to pour money into a race which they have a 99.9% chance of winning.

Uh, the NRSC has a ton of real pickup opportunities. They aren't going to waste money in Hawaii.

You mean the same NRSC that spent millions of dollars attacking the only viable candidate in California last year for supposedly being insufficiently pro-Israel, then dumped millions of dollars better spent elsewhere into California attempting to prove themselves right?

We had limited opportunities in 2010. 2012 is a totally different story, dude. We had to compete in places where, even in a 2010 environment, we weren't likely to win. That won't be the case next year.

I think the best news out of this is that Hawaii Republicans have a chance of gaining some seats back in the state legislature with her at the top of the ticket. If a no name was the nominee, Democrats would have an excellent chance of controlling 100% of the State Senate seats (The Republican caucus is at a rump of 1 senator now). That's not good for democracy.

I think the best news out of this is that Hawaii Republicans have a chance of gaining some seats back in the state legislature with her at the top of the ticket. If a no name was the nominee, Democrats would have an excellent chance of controlling 100% of the State Senate seats (The Republican caucus is at a rump of 1 senator now). That's not good for democracy.

Agree. But Lingle's victory itself doesn't looks too likely to me. If only anainst Ed Case, who is hated by many Democrats...

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Raging moderate. Big fan of "mavericks" (in all parties) and big non-lover of "reliable foot soldiers" (in all parties as well). Very much "anti-tea party". Political Matrix - E: -0.26, S: -3.48. Like to collect bans on partisan sites (4-5 on DKE (+ SSP) and on RRH).

I think the best news out of this is that Hawaii Republicans have a chance of gaining some seats back in the state legislature with her at the top of the ticket. If a no name was the nominee, Democrats would have an excellent chance of controlling 100% of the State Senate seats (The Republican caucus is at a rump of 1 senator now). That's not good for democracy.

Agree. But Lingle's victory itself doesn't looks too likely to me. If only anainst Ed Case, who is hated by many Democrats...

Perhaps he will ruin another election for Democrats there. Although I don't think he has the guts to run as a write-in if he loses the primary.

I think the best news out of this is that Hawaii Republicans have a chance of gaining some seats back in the state legislature with her at the top of the ticket. If a no name was the nominee, Democrats would have an excellent chance of controlling 100% of the State Senate seats (The Republican caucus is at a rump of 1 senator now). That's not good for democracy.

Agree. But Lingle's victory itself doesn't looks too likely to me. If only anainst Ed Case, who is hated by many Democrats...

Perhaps he will ruin another election for Democrats there. Although I don't think he has the guts to run as a write-in if he loses the primary.

Impossible, because Hawaii has a ban on write-in voting. This was challenged in federal court. In 1992, the Supreme Court upheld Hawaii's law 6-3. Lingle will only be facing a single Democratic opponent in 2012 which is one of several reasons why I am 99% sure she will be defeated.

That said, the Democratic candidate (hopefully Hirono) cannot afford to run a sleepwalk campaign against the former governor of the state. But I think Hawaii Dems recognize that and will respond appropriately.

Not really sure why she's bothering. I mean, kudos to her for providing something arguably more substantial than token opposition, but there's still no realistic chance of her winning. If I was Lingle I'd just go into lobbying or whatever it is ex-politicians do with their time.

Perhaps they offered her something behind closed doors in exchange for running. Or maybe she is just being a good soldier and taking one for the team. I would agree that Lingle has a snowball in Hawaii chance of winning.

For the GOP this is a positive development, even though a loss is a virtual certainty. As a former governor, Lingle will be able to fundraise fine on her own. And symbolically, the Hawaii GOP is not embarrassing itself by putting up a non-entity U.S. Senate candidate. Which is more than the WA GOP can say, lol.

Well Baumgartner is a million times better than Dino Rossi, so it's at least a slight step up for them.

Let's say hypothetically Obama's margin goes down a little bit from 08 because of the economy to a high 60 win in Hawaii. Would Lingle even be able to win enough cross-over supporters to win?

No. Let's say Obama wins the state 68-32. That would mean Lingle would need to run 18-19 points better than the GOP Presidential candidate. Given the more partisan nature of a Senate race and the fact Lingle left office with approvals in the low 40s, that seems virtually impossible. It's only been 1.5 years since her governorship ended and I don't think that is enough time for negative perceptions to have eased. After Hanabusa unseated Djou in a GOP wave year when Obama wasn't even on the ticket, there is nothing to suggest such a monumental upset is brewing. Maybe if the Dems nominate an extremely weak candidate, but I can't see that happening either.

Also to say that Baumgartner is "a million times" better than Rossi is a huge stretch, but I don't want to derail the subject of this thread.